TALENTED young Falmouth skipper Sam Goodchild (pictured right) was celebrating this week after making sailing history.
The 23-year-old became the highest-ranked British skipper in the prestigious Solitaire du Figaro, since the race went one-design in 1991, when he hit the dock in Dieppe on Saturday at 10.28 British Standard Time, after completing the 520 mile fourth and final leg of the gruelling 1,938 mile race in 13th.
Overall, the Shelterbox skipper finished in 11th overall, in an accumulated elapsed time of ten days, seven hours, 59 minutes and 42 seconds – two hours, 31 minutes and 19 seconds behind race winner Yann Elies.
Speaking this week a delighted Goodchild said: "The best part of my race was also the hardest part, sailing down the south coast of England under the spinnaker in around 30-40knots of wind.
"It's always nice to sail through home waters, though it wasn't very kind to us this time – the wind was relentless for about 12 hours.
"Leg 4 was definitely the toughest leg and really showed us how easy we had it over the first three legs.
"I am surprised at how much my performance has progressed since the 2012 race.
"I did not think that I'd do this well and setting a new top ranking British position is the icing on the cake really."
